Why are Educators and Administrators Skeptical of Graphic Novels?
Teachers have proven to be just as reluctant to incorporate graphic novels and teach them in their classrooms as the students are to reading in class. This is another very important aspect of the role that graphic novels play in a classroom. We need to understand and be realistic about how the elements of administration and curriculum play into the introduction of new and sometimes controversial material “...few teachers reported using graphic novels in their classrooms, and a large percentage of teachers...supported canonical and traditional pedagogies, even in light of decades of research indicating that students can, and should, engage in a much wider variety of literate behaviors in an intentional, critical way.” (Eckert, 2010)
“Practicing teachers are reluctant to implement significant change in literary instruction…the standardization of literary curricula enforced by high-stakes assessments makes it difficult, even professionally dangerous, to experiment with different forms of text.” (Eckert, 2010) Though graphic novels are becoming more respected in a scholarly setting, by teachers, administrators and librarians there are still many who need additional support and maybe alittle coaxing in order to see them as a legitimate format for classroom use. Lisa Schade Eckert conducted a survey in 2008 in which she polled a random sampling of secondary English teachers in Indiana and Montana. It was intended to be used in order to gauge the “…impressions of and pedagogical interest in, various instructional methods, including the use of graphic novels.” (Eckert, 2010) It was a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data and included teachers from rural, suburban and urban settings as well as wide range of teaching experience and degree levels. With all of the research and scholastic articles currently available touting positive results when incorporating graphic novels into the classroom Eckert believed that the results would be profoundly affirmative when she asked questions such as “Do you teach graphic novels?”, this, however, was not the case. It is not enough to conduct research and write articles about the benefits of using graphic novels in the classrooms. As we are seeing this is not swaying as many teachers as we would hope. However, this study, among others, is showing us that it is not simply a disapproval or outright refusal to utilize these types of materials. Teachers are feeling the pressures from the administration and curriculum requirements but also fear the unfamiliar territory of using these unconventional formats and are still question the “literariness” of graphic novels. In her survey Eckert found that out of the 160 valid responses only 20 percent actually indicated they would use graphic novels. The analysis of her qualitative results (which included their reasons for using or not using graphic novels) was much more interesting. It was here that we saw the pressures, fears and misconceptions of graphic novels, mentioned above, coming into play. Many of the respondents commented on their own unfamiliarity with the term “graphic novel”; thinking it referred to violent or illicit material. Additionally, some respondents revealed uncertainty in what constituted as a graphic novel. Others vilified them as “worthless junk”, “idiotic” and “mindless entertainment”. One respondent commented on her lack of use of graphic novels in the class by saying “I’d rather expand their horizons”, this was in reference to the fact that many students pick graphic novels up on their own. However, by repeatedly presenting the same types of texts and materials to analyze in the same manner is limiting and can be alienating to the students who mindlessly go through the motions of the same activities throughout their academic career and the students who are better suited to the non-traditional types of literacies. Instead of furthering the divide between the identities students have outside of school and inside of school by disparaging the texts they enjoy (graphic novels, magazines, online texts and popular fiction) teachers should bring those texts into play. Utilize what the students already enjoy and do so by choosing literature that is both scholarly and appealing.
All of these viewpoints must also be taken into consideration because although the effective and beneficial use of graphic novels is consistently represented and publicized in a variety of forums including research and journal articles as well as in books and the media, many teachers are still vastly unaware, unsure or reluctant to incorporate them. Many too, feel that they are “unqualified” to teach them or feel that they do not have the time to do the proper research. To this I say, why did you become a teacher if you are not willing to do everything in you power to help your students? Although it seems that these statements about their lack of knowledge and expertise is a bit of a cop-out on the teachers part, it is also important to take into account the lack of support and professional development many receive. Even teachers that do find time and the ability to introduce graphic novels would benefit from added support and instruction on how to do so even more effectively. “Too often, professional development initiatives in school provide little time for deep pedagogical reflection, discourage open-ended discussion of crucial issues in literacy instruction between teachers, and rarely address systematic change…The demands made upon teachers by standardization, regimentation, and record keeping conveniently tax the time they can devote simply maintaining the status quo…” (Eckert, 2010)
There was one example from the poll that I thought was particularly interesting because teacher brought up using “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. We read and discussed this novel in class and it seemed to me that we came to an understanding that this novel was not what we considered a graphic novel and that graphic novels themselves represent an alternative format rather than a completely different genre. Although this teacher found the terminology befuddling, he was clear in one aspect, it doesn’t matter what term or name we give to something. The graphic aspects of “true” graphic novels or simply novels and short stories that have graphics in them all serve a similar purpose. They appeal to and attract the students, serving as a hook to get them interested in the material. It really shouldn’t matter whether there are images in the book or not. If the material is quality literature (compelling, relevant, literary etc…) and the students want to read it they should be given that opportunity.
Teachers have proven to be just as reluctant to incorporate graphic novels and teach them in their classrooms as the students are to reading in class. This is another very important aspect of the role that graphic novels play in a classroom. We need to understand and be realistic about how the elements of administration and curriculum play into the introduction of new and sometimes controversial material
“...few teachers reported using graphic novels in their classrooms, and a large percentage of teachers...supported canonical and traditional pedagogies, even in light of decades of research indicating that students can, and should, engage in a much wider variety of literate behaviors in an intentional, critical way.” (Eckert, 2010)
“Practicing teachers are reluctant to implement significant change in literary instruction…the standardization of literary curricula enforced by high-stakes assessments makes it difficult, even professionally dangerous, to experiment with different forms of text.” (Eckert, 2010)
Though graphic novels are becoming more respected in a scholarly setting, by teachers, administrators and librarians there are still many who need additional support and maybe alittle coaxing in order to see them as a legitimate format for classroom use.
Lisa Schade Eckert conducted a survey in 2008 in which she polled a random sampling of secondary English teachers in Indiana and Montana. It was intended to be used in order to gauge the “…impressions of and pedagogical interest in, various instructional methods, including the use of graphic novels.” (Eckert, 2010) It was a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data and included teachers from rural, suburban and urban settings as well as wide range of teaching experience and degree levels. With all of the research and scholastic articles currently available touting positive results when incorporating graphic novels into the classroom Eckert believed that the results would be profoundly affirmative when she asked questions such as “Do you teach graphic novels?”, this, however, was not the case. It is not enough to conduct research and write articles about the benefits of using graphic novels in the classrooms. As we are seeing this is not swaying as many teachers as we would hope. However, this study, among others, is showing us that it is not simply a disapproval or outright refusal to utilize these types of materials. Teachers are feeling the pressures from the administration and curriculum requirements but also fear the unfamiliar territory of using these unconventional formats and are still question the “literariness” of graphic novels. In her survey Eckert found that out of the 160 valid responses only 20 percent actually indicated they would use graphic novels. The analysis of her qualitative results (which included their reasons for using or not using graphic novels) was much more interesting. It was here that we saw the pressures, fears and misconceptions of graphic novels, mentioned above, coming into play. Many of the respondents commented on their own unfamiliarity with the term “graphic novel”; thinking it referred to violent or illicit material. Additionally, some respondents revealed uncertainty in what constituted as a graphic novel. Others vilified them as “worthless junk”, “idiotic” and “mindless entertainment”. One respondent commented on her lack of use of graphic novels in the class by saying “I’d rather expand their horizons”, this was in reference to the fact that many students pick graphic novels up on their own. However, by repeatedly presenting the same types of texts and materials to analyze in the same manner is limiting and can be alienating to the students who mindlessly go through the motions of the same activities throughout their academic career and the students who are better suited to the non-traditional types of literacies. Instead of furthering the divide between the identities students have outside of school and inside of school by disparaging the texts they enjoy (graphic novels, magazines, online texts and popular fiction) teachers should bring those texts into play. Utilize what the students already enjoy and do so by choosing literature that is both scholarly and appealing.
All of these viewpoints must also be taken into consideration because although the effective and beneficial use of graphic novels is consistently represented and publicized in a variety of forums including research and journal articles as well as in books and the media, many teachers are still vastly unaware, unsure or reluctant to incorporate them. Many too, feel that they are “unqualified” to teach them or feel that they do not have the time to do the proper research. To this I say, why did you become a teacher if you are not willing to do everything in you power to help your students? Although it seems that these statements about their lack of knowledge and expertise is a bit of a cop-out on the teachers part, it is also important to take into account the lack of support and professional development many receive. Even teachers that do find time and the ability to introduce graphic novels would benefit from added support and instruction on how to do so even more effectively. “Too often, professional development initiatives in school provide little time for deep pedagogical reflection, discourage open-ended discussion of crucial issues in literacy instruction between teachers, and rarely address systematic change…The demands made upon teachers by standardization, regimentation, and record keeping conveniently tax the time they can devote simply maintaining the status quo…” (Eckert, 2010)
There was one example from the poll that I thought was particularly interesting because teacher brought up using “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. We read and discussed this novel in class and it seemed to me that we came to an understanding that this novel was not what we considered a graphic novel and that graphic novels themselves represent an alternative format rather than a completely different genre. Although this teacher found the terminology befuddling, he was clear in one aspect, it doesn’t matter what term or name we give to something. The graphic aspects of “true” graphic novels or simply novels and short stories that have graphics in them all serve a similar purpose. They appeal to and attract the students, serving as a hook to get them interested in the material. It really shouldn’t matter whether there are images in the book or not. If the material is quality literature (compelling, relevant, literary etc…) and the students want to read it they should be given that opportunity.